


It's warm and real and bright

by HopeSilverheart



Series: Loving Em at 2AM [84]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Artist Clary Fray, Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Girls in Love, It's just girls loving each other, Kid Fic, Married Clary Fray/Isabelle Lightwood, Pet Names, The Lightwood-Frays own my heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:20:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26131045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeSilverheart/pseuds/HopeSilverheart
Summary: The front door slammed open, and Clary struggled to disentangle herself from the sheets as twin pairs of footsteps came running towards the master bedroom.“Mom!” Two voices cried out simultaneously, jumping onto the bed and suffocating Clary in a mess of red and brown hair. Immediately, the tension she had accumulated during the day started seeping out of Clary’s body, replaced by endless and warmth and love for the girls in her arms. The only thing she was missing was…“Hey there, baby,” Isabelle said softly.Or: Clary has a bad day, but her favourite girls are always there to cheer her up.
Relationships: Clary Fray/Isabelle Lightwood
Series: Loving Em at 2AM [84]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764400
Kudos: 37





	It's warm and real and bright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thatnerdemryn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemryn/gifts).



Clary was exhausted.

She loved her job, she really did, but there were times when she wished it were a little less mentally taxing. Her art classes for mentally ill teenagers was one of her favourite things in the world, but it was also one of the hardest parts of her week.

Nothing was as rewarding as seeing one of the teens have a breakthrough or truly resonate with a topic, but nothing was as painful as seeing one of them break _down_ in the middle of a session. She’d had a particularly rough class that week, having to take Samuel out of the room halfway through before helping Lila get through a panic attack. Thankfully the rest of the students had been wonderful, but Clary had still been ready to lay down and forget all about her day by the end of the session.

Hence why she had gotten home and proceeded to sprawl herself out on hers and Izzy’s bed, covering herself in blankets despite the increasingly hot May weather. Honestly, it could have been 90 degrees and she would still have buried herself underneath the covers, just to make the world disappear for a while.

She wasn’t sure how long she stayed like that, staring at the ceiling and questioning her career choices for the hundredth time that month. She knew she would never stop doing what she did, but she thought she was entitled to a few moments of doubt when things got tough. It kept her sane and reminded her of the good parts of her job, so she wasn’t about to change her – questionably good – habits.

Besides, she never let it last too long. Or, more accurately, _Isabelle_ never let it last too long. It was probably only a matter of time before Clary’s wife got home, and after that she wouldn’t have to worry about anything other than her family. Isabelle always knew how to make things better, after all.

The front door slammed open, and Clary struggled to disentangle herself from the sheets as twin pairs of footsteps came running towards the master bedroom.

“Mom!” Two voices cried out simultaneously, jumping onto the bed and suffocating Clary in a mess of red and brown hair.

Immediately, the tension she had accumulated during the day started seeping out of Clary’s body, replaced by endless and warmth and love for the girls in her arms. The only thing she was missing was…

“Hey there, baby,” Isabelle said softly, leaning against their doorway and looking at the scene in front of her with fond eyes. “Mia, Jasmine, what have I told you about getting in bed with us?”

“Not with our shoes on,” Mia mumbled, pouting at Isabelle but dutifully sliding off the bed, her brown hair whipping Clary straight in the face. “Sorry, mama.”

“Try to remember next time, princesita,” Isabelle shook her head exasperatedly, shooing their youngest daughter out of the room before turning narrowed eyes on Jasmine, who had resolutely _not_ moved away from Clary. “Jasmine Alexandria Lightwood-Fray, don’t you dare give me that look. I don’t care how sad your mother looks right now, you still have to follow the rules. The faster you take your shoes off, the faster you can be back here. I bet your sister is already on her way back right now.”

The pitter-patter of sock-clad feet nearby told them that Mia was, indeed, heading back their way, and it was only a matter of seconds before Jasmine was flipping her dark red hair over her shoulder and strutting out of the room elegantly. Sometimes, Clary wondered when she had learned to imitate Isabelle so well.

“I’m back!” Their seven-year-old exclaimed, zooming back into the room and grinning wildly when Isabelle picked her up, twirled her around, and gently deposited her right next to Clary. “See, mom, I was _so_ fast! I’m going to be the fastest girl in the world, one day!”

“I’m sure you will be,” Clary chuckled, stroking her daughter’s hair lovingly and biting back a laugh when Jasmine skipped back into the room with an indignant look on her face. Their eldest daughter sent Isabelle a dirty look before snuggling on Clary’s other side, burying her head in the crook of Clary’s neck and determinedly ignoring everyone else in the room.

_Teenagers_ , Clary thought, exchanging a knowing look with Isabelle as her wife stepped out of her shoes, took off her jacket, and threw herself onto the bed to embrace their little family.

“Welcome home, baby,” the brunette murmured as she leaned in to peck Clary’s lips, ignoring Jasmine’s mock-gag and Mia’s giggles. “Long day at work?”

“Not really, just… not a good day for the kids,” Clary answered, feeling the last of her tension disappear when Isabelle shifted until she was sitting behind Clary, her hands poised on her shoulders and ready to give Clary one of her magical massages. “I wish there was more I could do, you know?”

“Yeah,” Isabelle sighed, kissing her neck softly before resuming her careful ministrations. “But you’re doing your best, and that’s all anyone can ask for. I’m sure the kids are all grateful to have you around to help, even if you can’t give them everything they need.”

“And when I saw Kiara last time, she said I was lucky to have a mother like you,” Jasmine added, feigning nonchalance but clearly trying to cheer Clary up further. No matter how annoying their eldest daughter could get at times, Clary would never cease to be grateful for her endless thoughtfulness and empathy. “You’re great at what you do, mom.”

“You’re the best mom in the world!” Mia chimed in, sending a toothy grin up at Clary. “So, what do you want to do tonight? Mama said we could watch a movie, or cook, or paint our nails, or play, or go out to the park, or-”

“How about you let your mom decide?” Isabelle chuckled, booping the younger brunette’s nose gently and sending the little girl into a fit of laughter. “Is there anything you’d like to do with us tonight, my heart? We can leave you alone if you just need some time to yourself, but I know the girls were looking forward to doing something with you.”

“As if I would ever pass up on family time,” Clary scoffed, twisting her head around to shoot her wife a fondly exasperated look. “There’s no way I’m letting you or Jaz near the kitchen, so how about we order some pizza? We can paint our nails in front of a movie whilst we wait for it to arrive, and then reward ourselves with a delicious slice of pepperoni pizza.”

“Not _pepperoni_ ,” Mia wrinkled her nose. “I just want cheese.”

“Just cheese is boring,” Jasmine rolled her eyes at her little sister. “Who wants just cheese on their pizza? Besides, it’s mom’s evening, so we’ll get whatever she wants to get.”

“ _You’re_ boring,” Mia retorted, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes at Jasmine. “Mom, we’ll get cheese pizza, right? It’s the best pizza ever!”

“Why don’t we get one of each?” Clary suggested, smiling amusedly when Isabelle immediately nodded along to her suggestion. “That way Jaz and I can share the pepperoni pizza, and you can share the cheese one with mama. Doesn’t that sound like a good idea?”

Isabelle rested her chin on Clary’s shoulder as their younger daughter tapped her chin, thinking hard on their offer. It never failed to amuse Clary that, although _they_ had been the ones to raise Mia, their little brunette took after her uncle Alec more than anyone else.

Isabelle sometimes whined about terrible genes being passed to the wrong people, lamenting about how tragic it was that her impulsive traits hadn’t been passed on to Mia, but they both adored their daughters no matter what. And if they’d had a few talks with Alec about not making Mia into his _complete_ replica, well… She would never know.

“I guess that’s okay,” Mia finally sighed, looking as though there was nothing she wanted less.

“If you’re going to give us _that_ attitude, maybe we should just order pepperoni,” Isabelle raised her eyebrows at Mia, a smile tugging at her lips when the younger brunette’s eyes widened in horror. “I’m kidding, _princesita_ , but you should still say thank you to your mom.”

“Thank you, mom,” Mia muttered underneath her breath, kissing Clary’s cheek softly before jumping off the bed and running out of the room. “I’m getting the nail polish!”

“I’m coming with!” Jasmine immediately exclaimed, hitting Clary in the ribs with her elbow as she hurried after her little sister.

As soon as they were gone, Clary and Isabelle melted into a tangle of limbs on the bed, sighing heavily at the whirlwind that was their daughter’s combined forces. If Clary had been as rambunctious as their two girls when she’d been a child, she understood why her mother had sent her over to the Lewis’ so often.

“I love them to death, but _god_ do I miss our peace and quiet,” Isabelle groaned into her pillow, grabbing onto Clary’s waist and pulling her closer so the two of them were properly cuddled together. “How long do you think we have before they stop arguing about the nail polish and realise we haven’t made a move to order the pizza yet?”

“I’m hoping for fifteen,” Clary mumbled back, peering up at her wife and nuzzling at the brunette’s collarbone with her nose. “But realistically? Probably only seven.”

“Seven’s better than nothing,” Isabelle shrugged, rolling on top of Clary so their bodies were pressed together completely. “Hi there.”

“Hi,” Clary grinned, pursing her lips and sending Isabelle a pleading look. The brunette rolled her eyes at Clary’s lack of verbal communication, but she obliged and kissed Clary anyways. “I missed you today.”

“I missed you too,” Isabelle whispered, pressing another kiss to Clary’s lips, then her nose, her cheeks, her forehead, her chin, her lips again. By the time she was done showering Clary with attention, they were both grinning widely into each other’s mouths. “I always miss you when you’re at work, although I’m also very proud of you for staying strong and helping all those teenagers. You’re a treasure, Clary Lightwood-Fray.”

“ _Angel_ ,” Clary blushed, both from Isabelle’s words and the unapologetic look her wife levelled her with. “So… What did you and the girls do today?”

“Very smooth, Clarissa,” Isabelle snorted, tapping the tip of Clary’s nose gently. “We went to the park for a while, got ice cream, and then I finally took them to the book store. Simon was delighted to see us, of course, and the girls finally agreed to buy something other than a comic book. Mia got tired after that and you were due to get home soon, so we came back pretty quickly. Nothing special.”

“I still wish I could have been there,” Clary pouted. “I would have loved to see the devastation on Simon’s face when he realised his favourite nieces were moving on from his beloved comic books. And I bet you got the ice cream from the place I love, too.”

“We did,” Isabelle admitted sheepishly. “Jasmine even got your favourite flavours since ‘if mom isn’t here to enjoy them, _someone_ has to’. She’s becoming more and more like you every day, you know?”

“Excuse me?” Clary snorted. “If Jasmine takes after one of us, it’s _definitely_ you. The other day, she told me she couldn’t go to school because she was too busy with her science project due later that week. I don’t know what you’ve been putting in that head of hers, but I swear you’d better not be trying to force her into following in your footsteps.”

“As though I would ever do that,” Isabelle huffed indignantly. “If Jasmine becomes a forensic scientist, it’ll be because she wants to and because she’s a scientific genius, not because I pushed her into it.”

“I still can’t believe neither of our daughters took after me,” Clary sighed. She had _tried_ to get Mia and Jasmine into art; had taken them to museums, galleries, painting classes, dance lessons, piano lessons, even _pottery_ lessons, but it had all been for nought.

Jasmine was an academic whose art rested in her words, and Mia liked baseball too much to focus on anything else. In the end, Clary had had to rely on Alec and Magnus’ kids to feed her need for like-minded people. Because of course Alec I-don’t-have-a-single-creative-bone-in-my-body Lightwood-Bane got all the creative children. Of course he did.

“Oh my god, you didn’t even _move_!” Jasmine’s voice cut through Clary’s thoughts. Isabelle let out a quiet snicker but didn’t speak up, which Clary took to mean that it was up to her to deal with their beautiful, amazing, frustrating young teenager. “I thought we were getting pizza!”

“We are,” Clary answered patiently. “But I needed a few seconds alone with your mama. You’re not the only girl who matters to me, you know? I’m allowed to take a few moments for myself.”

“But you and mama take moments for yourselves all the time,” Jasmine rolled her eyes. “I mean, you guys sleep together, and you wake up together, and you spend all your mornings in bed together when you can, so it’s not like you never see each other. You’re so _needy_.”

“Jasmine! Where did you even learn that word?” Isabelle gasped, although Clary could tell she was biting back a laugh at their daughter’s tone. Behind Jasmine, Mia watched the exchange happen with wide, innocent eyes. “I bet it was Magnus.”

“It was Uncle Magnus,” Jasmine nodded solemnly. “Am I not supposed to use that word? Because Uncle Magnus always uses it when he’s talking about Uncle Alec, and it always makes Uncle Alec blush.”

“You shouldn’t- You shouldn’t say it like it’s a bad thing, Jaz,” Clary explained calmly, elbowing Isabelle sharply when her wife let out a wheeze. “Maybe Isabelle and I are a little needy around each other, but I don’t think either of us mind.”

“Oh, I definitely don’t mind when you’re needy for me, baby,” Isabelle whispered just lowly enough to make it impossible for their daughters to hear her. Nevertheless, _Clary_ heard her, and she turned the most vivid shade of red as her wife smirked proudly.

“Gah! Isabelle!” She exclaimed, blushing even brighter when Isabelle burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter at her little cry. “Don’t laugh! This is your fault! Completely your fault! Girls, how about we go call the pizza place and get started on our nails? Your mother can join us when she’s decided to stop acting like a child. And if she takes too long, I think we might just get Tangled up and running without her. After all, she probably doesn’t need to hear the beginning again.”

“Don’t you dare!” Isabelle yelled, sitting up and trying to grab onto Clary’s sleeve as the redhead slipped out of bed. “I’ll be there in just a second, alright? I just need to- You know- _gah_.”

The last word was followed by a series of giggles that Clary shouldn’t have found cute – but she did, because she was absolutely weak for Isabelle.

“Adults are so weird,” Mia mock-whispered as Clary led both her and Jasmine out of the room. “Why is mama laughing so much, mom? Did you say something funny to her?”

“Your mama is laughing because she is a ridiculous human being, and I say that in the kindest of ways,” Clary sighed, digging her cell phone out of the bag she had dumped on the counter earlier. “Now, we’re going to order enough pizza to feed the three of us, and then we’re going to give her five minutes to join us before starting the movie.”

“Are we really going to start Tangled without her?” Mia asked softly, looking like she couldn’t imagine doing something so _awful_ to her mother. Clary would have found it endearing, but it was yet another reminder that their daughter had unfortunately been left out of the ‘reckless Lightwood-Fray gene’ the other three women in the household all benefitted from.

“No, princess, we won’t start without her,” Clary sighed. “Now, go choose which colour you want to paint Jasmine’s nails whilst she turns on the TV. And Jaz, don’t put anything on yet, or you _know_ Mia isn’t going to want to switch the channel.”

“Fine,” Jasmine huffed. “Come on, Mimi.”

“Don’t call me that!” Mia pouted as she stomped out of the room. “Or I’ll paint your nails- I’ll paint them yellow and red!”

“Don’t you _dare_ , Mia Jocelyn!” Jasmine exclaimed, running after her sister when the brunette took off running. “I swear I’ll get back at you somehow! I’ll ask mama to paint your nails _bright pink_.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Oh, I would.”

Clary shook her head exasperatedly at her daughters’ retreating backs before turning back to the phone in her hands, absent-mindedly dialling their favourite pizza place as she thought about their plans for the night.

It was hard to imagine that she had been wallowing in her own misery less than an hour earlier, questioning her job, sanity, and general life choices. She sometimes wondered if Isabelle and their daughters were miracle workers, because their ability to bring Clary out of her darker moods in less than a few minutes was frankly remarkable. It was also one of the things she loved the most about her family.

And as Isabelle joined her in the kitchen, looping her arms around Clary’s waist and pressing a kiss to the redhead’s temple, she couldn’t help but thank whatever gods had given her such a wonderful wife.

“Ready for an evening with our favourite girls?” Isabelle murmured once Clary had ordered their food. “Because I have a feeling they’re starting to get impatient in there, and I refuse to miss the beginning of the movie because of you.”

“I would be a little less worried about Tangled and a little more worried about what colour Mia is currently trying to paint Jasmine’s nails if I were you,” Clary chuckled, lacing her fingers with Isabelle’s and leading her wife towards the living room. “I will _not_ deal with another crisis like last month. Not now, and not in a million years.”

“Fair enough,” Isabelle laughed. “Now come on, my queen, lead me to our beautiful princesses.”

“Anything for you, your Majesty,” Clary answered, pressing a light kiss to the back of Isabelle’s hand and laughing delightedly when Isabelle spun her around gracefully. “I love you so much, Isabelle Lightwood-Fray. Thank you for being there for me today.”

“Always, baby,” Isabelle smiled. “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I have no idea where this little piece of fluff came from, but it occurred to me that I had never written Clary and Izzy with children, and I had to remedy that as soon as possible. I hope you all enjoyed this and, as always, excuse any and all mistakes!
> 
> Love, Junie. 
> 
> (find me on [tumblr](https://hopesilverheart.tumblr.com/))


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